Voting-machine



(No Model.) 2 Shets-Sheet 2.

G. W. TRAHAN & T. BABIN. VOTING MACHINE.

No. 398,196. J9 Patented Feb. 19, 1889.

N. PETERS. FhoXo-Lilhcgnphcr. Washington, 0.12.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

LOUIS IANA.

VOTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters P atent No. 398,196, dated February 19, 1889.

Application filed heptember 22, 1888. $erial No. 286,069. (No model.)

To all whom itnwy concern.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE \VASHINGTON TRAHAN and TELEsPHoRE BABIN, both residents of Houma, in the parish of Terre Bonne and State of Louisiana, have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in Registers for Ballot-Boxes, Tills, &c.; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of my register for ballot-boxes, money-tills, &c., showing the cover thrown back. Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the lid, showing its peculiar construction. Fig. 2 is a transverse section. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view. Fig. a is a plan view of the upper section, showing the fare-boxes, in places of amusement, and for a variety of different purposes, and is designed construction and combination of parts of the same, as hereinafter more fully described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A indicates the outer casing-provided with a 1 suitable cover, B. Hinged within this outer casing is a tray, 0, resting upon corner-pieces D in said casin g.

a division or apartment, E, said apartment having hinged thereto a lid, F, which is provided with holes G G, said holes having pivoted above the same lids or covers H H, designed to cover or uncover the holes when de sired.

A deposit opening or hole, I, is located in This tray 0 is provided with l the tray C, and has extending from the under l side thereof a guard, J, the front portion of said guard being partly cylindrical. A de l posit lid or plate, K, is rigidly mounted upon a shaft, L, above this deposit-opening, the 1 rear portion of said lid being curved upward to afford a ready grasp for the hand. One I end of this shaft I. is journaled in a bearing, M, to one side of the opening, while the other 1 passes through the side of the apartment E,

is engaged by a spring, 0, one end of said spring being secured in any desiredmanner to the bottom of the apartment. The shaft 1 then continues transversely across, being held 1 in place by suitable keepers or bearings, P, l and is provided on its extreme end with a Q crank, Q, which engages and actuates a fiat plate or bar, B, said bar passing through sleeves S and T, located upon the side of the apartment E. Secured to the sliding plate R and the sleeve T, respectively, are springpawls U and V. A flat spring, \V, is also secured to the bottom of the apartment E, the end thereof bearing against one end of the sliding plate R, which, together with the spring 0, serves to turn the shaft back to its original position after the deposit-lid has been raised and the ticket deposited.

Toothed dial-wheels X and Y turn in bearing in the bottom of apartment E, wheel X being located beneath wheel Y and numbered at regular intervals from 1 to 100. Wheel Y i is numbered at regular intervals of one hundred-as, for instance, one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, and so on, to ten thousandthe difference between the interval of eachbeing one hundred. As the deposit-lid is pressed inward in order to deposit the vote or ticket, the shaft is turned, and with the turning of said shaft the fiat plate or bar R is moved within the sleeves S and T. As this bar R is moved, itcarries with it the springpawl U, rigidly secured thereto, said pawl e11- gaging the teeth of the wheel and turning it one notch, the second spring-pawl, V, sei cured to the sleeve T, likewise engaging one of the rear notches and preventing the dial 1 from turning back. i Secured to the dial X is an eccentric-pin, i Z, which, when said dial X has made a comwhere it is provided with a crank, N, whichplete revolution, will engage the teeth of dial Y and move it one notch, a spring-pawl,'A,' located upon the inner side of the apartment E, also engaging the teeth of the dial and overcoming any tendency which the same may have to slip back.

If desired, the apartment E may also be provided with cross-strips B 13, upon which the rims of the dials may be supported.

Abovethe dial X is a slitted plate, 0', partly circular in shape, to conform to the contour of said dial, and having extended ends, soldered or otherwise secured to the sides of the apartment. By the arrangement of this slitted plate the number of'votes deposited is easily discernible. A like slitted plate, D, is arranged above the dial Y and answers a similar purpose.

The above being a description of our inven tion, its operation is as follows: In the first place, the dials X and Y are set, respectively, at numbers 100 and 10,000, and the lids or covers above holes G G are closed. The vote, ticket, or fare is deposited upon the depositlid and the same pressed inward. After the lid reaches a point beyond the end of the curved portion of the under guard the pawl U acts upon the teeth of the dial X and turns it from 1 to.2, and so on, registering each vote as it is placed upon the deposit-lid and carried within the space of casing A. WVhen the dial X has made a complete revolution, the eccentric-pin will engage the teeth of dial Y and will turn it from 10,000 to 100. It will thus be seen that the dial Y will always tally the number of hundred votes cast, and should the voting cease upon the fractional part of a hundred the dial X will indicate that fractional part.

It is of course desirable to keep the lids above holes G G closed until it is found necessary to ascertain the number of votes deposited, when said holes may readily be uncovered and the exact number of votes determined.

If desired, the guard J may be provided with a bell, E, provided with a trip adapted to be engaged by the end of the deposit-lid when the same is pressed in, so that as each vote is deposited the bell will be sounded,indieating that the vote has been properly registered.

It is obvious that as many of these registering-dials as may be found desirable may be employed, so that the capacity of the de vice to register votes will be almost unlimited. By the employment of the two dials, as shown in the drawings, the device will register from one to ten thousand votes, three dials from one to one million, and so on indefinitely. The device, moreover, is little liable to get out of order, is simple in 0011- str-uction, comparatively inexpensive of pro duotion, and absolutely correct in registering, thedevice being operated only by the person making the deposit.

, In'Fig. 5 of the drawings we have shown the device as adapted particularly for moneytills.

Upon the under wheel the numerals are arranged in regular order from 1 to 19, and following 9 two ciphers (00.) Each one of these numerals represents five cents, so that there is a total of twenty five-cent pieces or nickels indicated upon the dial, or $1.00.

Upon the upper dial the numbers are arranged at regular intervals from $1.00 to $100, there being a difference of one hundred points between each numeral. The under dial is of course provided with an eccentricpin, so that when it makes one complete revolution, or reaches the point 00, the upper dial will indicate $1.00, two revolutions $2.00, and so on.

Instead of the under dial being arranged with numerals from 1 to 00, as above described, the twenty spaces may be numbered from 5 to 100, there being a difference of five between said spaces, so that the total indicated will be $1.00 or twenty nickelsthat is to say, the spaces will run 5, 10, 90, &c., until 95 is reached, the next space being 00, at which point the upper wheel will be revolved, indicating $1.00.

This system of registering money, it is obvious, can be carried indefinitely. For instance, it may be arranged as a ten cents register, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, two dollar, &c., by simply varying the arrangement of the numbers on the dial on the same principle as before explained.

In order to facilitate the settingof the dials,

we also prefer to provide each with a central pin or pivot, E, which is adapted to receive a key, thus enabling the dials to be turned without difficulty.

Having thus described our invention, we

claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. In a registering device for ballot-boxes, &c., the combination, with the outer box 01' casing, of the inner tray provided with asuitable deposit-opening, the deposit-lid above said opening having a shaft rigidly secured thereto, and the toothed registering mechanism mounted in suitable bearings in the bottom of the tray actuated by said shaft, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the outereasinghaving inner corner-pieces, the hinged inner tray provided with a deposit-opening, the depositlid having a transverse shaft rigidly secured thereto, said shaft being provided with cranks, the side apartment, the spring adapted to engage the innermost of said cranks, the sliding plate or bar having a spring-pawl secured thereto, the sleeves in which this sliding bar moves, one of said sleeves having a springpawlsecured thereto, the toothed registeringdials mounted in suitable bearings in the bottom of the apartment, one of said dials being IIO provided with an eccentric-pin, and the spring.

pawl adapted to engage the teeth of the rearmost :registeringdial, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the outercasing ha"- ing inner corner-pieces, the hinged inner tray provided with a deposit-opening, the guard located beneath said opening and provided with an alarm-bell, the deposit-lid having a transverse shaft rigidly secured thereto, said shaft being provided with cranks, the side apartment, the spring adapted to engage the innermost of the cranks upon the shaft, the sliding plate or bar having a spring-pawl secured thereto, the sleeves inwhieh this sliding bar moves, one of said sleeves being provided with a spring-pawl, the toothed registering-dials mounted in suitablebearings in the bottom of the apartment, one of said dials be ing provided with an eccentric-pin, and the spring-pawl adapted to engage the teeth of the rearmost registering-dial, substantially as set forth.

at. The combination of the outer casing having inner corner-plates, the hinged inner tray provided with a deposit-opening, the deposit lid having a transverse shaft rigidly secured thereto, said shaft being provided with cranks, the side apartment, the spring adapted to e11- gage the innermost of said cranks, the sliding plate or bar having a spring-pawl secured thereto, the sleeves in which this sliding bar moves, one of said sleeves having a spring pawl secured thereto, the flat spring adapted to engage the forward end of said sliding plate or bar, the toothed registering-dials mounted in suitable bearin gs in the bottom of the apartment, one of said dials being provided with an eccentric-pin, and the spring-pawl adapted to engage the rearmost registering-dial, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of. the outer easinghaving inner corner-pieces, the hinged inner tray provided with a deposit-opening, the guard located beneath said opening and provided with an alarm-bell, the deposit-lid having a transverse shaft rigidly secured thereto, said shaft being provided with cranks, the side apartment having a hinged cover, said cover being provided with suitable openings having pivoted covers above the same, the spring adapted to engage the innermost of the cranks located upon the transverse shaft, the sliding plate or bar having a spring-pawl secured thereto, the sleeves in which this sliding bar moves, one of said sleeves being provided with a spring-pawl, the fiat spring adapted to engage the forward end of said sliding plate or bar, the toothed registering-dials mounted in suitable bearings in thebottom of the apartment, one of said dials being provided with an eccentric-pin, the slit-ted curved plates having the slits therein registering with the openings in the cover of the side apartment, and the spring-pawl adapted to engage the teeth Of the rearinost toothed dial, substantialb as set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own wehave hereunto affixed our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE WASIHXGTON 'lRlliAN. 'IELESPHORE BABIN.

Witnesses:

E. A. LEONYAL, J. P. LARRIEU. 

